1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing, and more particularly, to an image processing method and apparatus for generating and displaying image information, and an information storage medium storing image information.
2. Description of the Related Art
After an image of a still or moving object is taken using a digital camera or a digital camcorder and the image is displayed on a screen, a user may notice that the acquired image is tilted. This is because the digital camera or camcorder was in a tilted position when acquiring the image and because a conventional display apparatus displays an image in a fixed position regardless of the orientation (i.e. degree of tilt, or degree of rotation) of the camera. In particular, when moving pictures are taken using a camcorder, it is almost impossible to keep the camcorder in a constant horizontal position, and therefore, the taken pictures always include unwanted rotated image data.
In the case of an analog camera, the printed photos can be easily rotated for viewing. However, in the case of a digital camera or digital camcorder, the images are viewed mainly through a display apparatus, such as a computer monitor, and it is not easy to rotate the display apparatus. Accordingly, the user cannot rotate and view the images in the same manner as printed photos.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of displaying images photographed using a conventional photographing apparatus that was rotated in several positions. An image 101, taken when the photographing apparatus was in a horizontal position, and images 102 and 103, taken after the photographing apparatus was rotated by 30° and 110° counterclockwise, are displayed on a display apparatus 110 as images 121, 122, and 123, respectively. The image 121 does not cause any problem, but the images 122 and 123 are unpleasant for viewing. Thus, according to the conventional method of generating and displaying image information, when the photographing apparatus is tilted when a photo is taken, the tilted image may be viewed in only a tilted state.
Another problem appears when the direction of an image is different from that of a display apparatus or when the direction of a photographing apparatus is different from that of a display apparatus. An example of the former case is when a digital camera is used to take an image in landscape orientation is rotated by 90° and an image is taken in portrait orientation, and then the image is seen on a computer monitor displaying the image in landscape orientation. In this case, a user must use an editing process to rotate the image into portrait orientation, so that the image is displayed on a monitor in landscape orientation. Also, when an image having portrait orientation is seen on a landscape orientation display, the image is not properly displayed. An example of the latter case is viewing an image taken by a digital camera that takes images in landscape orientation on a portrait orientation display apparatus, such as a mobile phone. This problem is similar to that of the former case.
In order to address this problem, a method of pivoting a display apparatus after analyzing the direction of an image has been suggested. However, the performance of the pivot function in image direction analysis is quite limited, and accordingly, errors are generated when, for example, an image that should be displayed in landscape orientation is determined to have portrait orientation.